Fragile
by Rose DiVerona
Summary: Pre-Toy Story 3. Two-shot. Toys don't last forever. Woody watches his friends disappear over time, and now he must let Bo go, too. And when the cowboy begins to lose faith in himself, will his friends be able to convince their leader they need him?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I know this has been done multiple times by now, but oh well. I loved Toy Story 3 so much that I had to write something for it. And even after a third viewing, this is all I can come up with. For now. Rest assured, there will be more TS fics by me in the future.

Disclaimer: I do not own Toy Story.

* * *

**Fragile**

It was inevitable.

Woody had always known this. He had long ago accepted that children grow up and toys don't last forever. That playtime is all too brief and sooner or later, everything changes.

He'd always hoped it would be _later_, but a teenage Andy was simply too old to play with a plastic dinosaur or a slinky dog...or even a cowboy doll he'd had since birth.

There had been yard sales over the years. The toys, favorite tools of Andy's imagination that they were, had remained immune for several seasons as the boy flatly refused to even consider parting with his precious playthings.

But that had changed eventually. Lenny, Mike, Rocky, Wheezy...they all met the fate of a cardboard box displayed on a folding table. Woody wanted to save them, but what could he do? Andy himself didn't want them anymore, and thus the toys accepted that they must move on, too.

Some weren't lucky enough to find new owners. Etch simply stopped working the way he once had and went out with the trash one rainy morning before the other toys even knew what was happening. A seven-year-old Molly ran over RC on her bike soon after, and the ruined car became the first victim of a spring cleaning that purged the house of many a forgotten toy and struck fear into the hearts of even the "toy box favorites."

Yet Andy kept _them_. For reasons none of the toys dared to justify, their owner shut them away in a toy box, but he did not give them away.

And Woody held out hope that maybe things would turn out okay.

That is, until _that day_.

It was a beautiful spring morning, which should have been a warning sign from the start. Andy was fourteen, Molly was ten. And Mrs. Davis had decided it was once again time to thin out the collection of her children's old toys.

"All right, I expect both of you to pitch in. I'm leaving a box out here in the hall; you have an hour."

The inhabitants of Andy's toy box exchanged grim looks. No doubt they would be saying goodbye to more friends before this most recent purge was over.

"Oh, I'm so nervous!" Rex moaned, trying and failing to sit up from his awkward position leaning against Hamm - the toys had been forced to rush into position when the humans came upstairs unexpectedly.

"We'll be okay," Woody said quietly. "Nobody panic!"

"Easy for you to say - you're his favorite!" Mr. Potato Head said hotly, but his anxiety showed as he locked hands with his wife.

"Woody's right," Buzz said resolutely. "Andy would never-"

But he fell silent as footsteps approached their home. The toys fell limp as the lid was lifted overhead and a teenage boy looked solemnly down at them.

Andy sighed and reached inside, moving Slinky and Bullseye out of the way to pull out the Bucket O' Soldiers, which he placed on the floor beside him as he continue to sift through years of accumulation, eventually extracting the Troikas and Mr. Spell, who had both somehow avoided earlier sales.

"That should be enough," the boy murmured in satisfaction, and he shut the lid.

The remaining toys exhaled in relief. They were going to miss their friends, but selfishly they were also very glad to have been left behind.

"Told you," Woody murmured. "Told you everything was-"

"Bo Peep?"

The words struck Woody dumb, and everyone froze and strained to hear as their master's voice piped up again.

"You're giving her away?"

"Of course," Molly said, scoffing. "I'm way too old to have a nursery rhyme lamp in my room. What do you care, anyway? It's not like you ever play with her anymore."

"No...it doesn't bother me," Andy said lamely, his voice fading as he apparently followed his sister downstairs. "Just surprised..."

For one brief moment none of the toys moved; all eyes were turned to Woody. Then the lid shot up as the cowboy climbed out and up onto Andy's desk, plastering his face to the window.

The others followed more slowly, Jessie swinging herself up before even Buzz could get there.

"Woody," she began slowly, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "I know what you're thinking, and you can't go down there."

He didn't appear to be listening; his eyes were already calculating the safest path down to the yard; he'd done this before, he could do it again. For _her. _For Bo.

"She's right, Woody." Buzz spoke from the cowboy's other side. "You can't risk it. _Sheriff_," he stressed, when Woody still did not respond.

Woody finally turned blank eyes to his friends, who took that as their cue to step in as a group.

"Remember what happened the time you went down to rescue Wheezy?" Slinky asked.

"I _did _rescue him," Woody said quietly.

"Yeah, and look how well things went after that," Hamm said, rolling his eyes.

"And Bo isn't plastic," Jessie said gently. "She's porcelain. Not durable."

"And we need you, Woody," Rex pleaded.

"What would we do if something happened to _you_?" Mrs. Potato Head asked, clearly frightened by the idea.

Woody stood up, his gaze fixed on the table where Bo had been set up with her sheep.

"I have to try, guys. It isn't fair to Bo if I don't. She deserves it."

They could offer no rebuttal as their leader hopped down from the desk, clearly intending to call Buster to his aid once again.

But then something caught Buzz's eye and he straightened.

"Hold on, Woody. Someone's looking at Bo."

In an instant, Woody was back at the crowded window. Sure enough, a young girl was clutching the figurine and yelling for her mother to come look. In agitation, she placed Bo on the edge of the table and spun around, bumping the side with her elbow in the process.

In slow motion, Bo's friends watched from above as the table shook and Bo tipped forward.

"No!" Woody shouted.

But of course Bo couldn't hear him and neither could the eager would-be customer. Bo was knocked off the table and fell to the concrete, shattering instantly into hundreds of pieces.

Woody fell to his knees, his face crumpling as he buried it in his hands.

"Oh, _no,_" Jessie said softly, removing her hat as she collapsed next to her heartbroken friend. Her green eyes glistened.

The other toys were silent as they watched Andy's mother arrive at the scene to clean up the mess and reassure the girl's distraught mother. When Bo's remains were gone, they drifted away as well. The shepherdess' death was just a particularly hard blow along the ever-darkening path of toydom in the Davis household.

Only Woody, Jessie, and Buzz remained in place on the desk until the yard sale was over. Then Woody stood stiffly, a mask in place to hide the pain he was so obviously feeling.

_Toys don't last forever._

"Woody," Jessie began, "if you want to talk about it-"

"Not now, Jess," he said coldly, walking away. Jessie hung her head.

Buzz took the cowgirl's hand and squeezed it.

"Give him time. He'll be okay."

"I hope so," Jessie sighed. "It's not his fault, you know? None of this has been. The toys we've lost...well, Andy's growing up. There isn't anything we can do about that."

"No," Buzz agreed. "And I think Woody knows it. But it's one of the burdens of being a leader. He still feels responsible."

Jessie hugged Buzz sadly. "Well, if we're all supposed to be here for Andy, then we can be here for Woody, too."

Buzz smiled and put an arm around his friend. "For infinity and beyond."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Enjoy the conclusion of my little story. Thanks for reviewing!

* * *

Jessie sighed and flipped her braid over her shoulder, fixing her companion with a stern look.

"We have to do something."

Buzz frowned. "Jessie, we _are _doing something. Uno," he said triumphantly, placing a card onto the small pile before him. Bullseye let out what might have been a sigh and morosely examined the ever-growing collection balanced between his front hooves.

Jessie glared at the space ranger and grabbed his arm, pointing to the windowsill.

"We have to do something about _that._"

Buzz's eyes followed his own finger to a familiar sight - Woody, curled up next to the window, gazing sadly outside. He sighed and shook his head.

"It's only been a week. He needs _time_."

The cowgirl disagreed. "Look, I know Bo Peep was special to him, but letting him mope alone like that isn't going to make things better. Now, I don't know if intervention is really gonna help, either, but I intend to _try. _Are you with me, Buzz?"

Buzz sighed again and threw his last card down, patting Bullseye's head as the horse slipped off the bed and went to find some more exciting entertainment. He stood.

"Of course I'm with you. And of course I want to help Woody. I've never...I've never seen him like this."

"Me neither. He...well, he reminds me of _me_. Back when I thought my destiny was either storage or Japan. It's like a piece of him is missing."

"Maybe you should talk to him," Buzz suggested. "You seem to have an adequate grasp on the situation." When Jessie shot him a suspicious look, he raised his hands defensively. "I'm serious. I wouldn't know what to say, Jessie. It'd be awkward. But you're a..."

"A girl," Jessie stated smoothly. "Fine." She turned away and began climbing up to the sill.

"That's not what I meant!" Buzz protested, starting after her.

His friend turned and her eyes softened. "I know, Buzz. But this is Woody we're talking about. He's your best friend, and he needs you. Awkward moments aside."

Buzz nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?"

Her face lit up. "Okay, listen closely..."

**/**

Woody didn't look up when Jessie seated herself next to him.

"Hi," he said softly.

"Hi, Woody," Jessie replied casually, peering out the window.

Woody blew out a breath. "Look, I know what you're trying to do, and I appreciate it, but-"

"I just wanted to look out the window," she protested. "It's a beautiful day."

A sharp nod in agreement with that comment, and then the following few minutes were spent in silence.

"I miss her," Woody finally murmured. Jessie nodded but didn't interrupt, so he went on slowly. "It wasn't even...unexpected. She warned me."

_It was wintertime. There was snow on the ground, but nobody wanted to be cooped up inside, so the Davises had gone out Christmas shopping. The toys were relaxed - caught between autumn yard sales and those in the spring, they had a few comfortable months ahead of them; even the fear of newer, cooler toys was a thing of the past, since both Andy and Molly were too old for those kinds of gifts._

_Woody and Bo had staked out a somewhat secluded corner in Andy's room and were taking the opportunity to talk. Bo was kept in Molly's room these days, so the two did not see each other as often. It was taking a toll on them both; then again, a lot of things were._

"_Woody," Bo said softly. "I think...I think this Christmas might be my last in this house."_

_His response had been immediate and angry. "Why would you say something like that? You're not going anywhere, Bo!"_

_She laughed gently. "Woody, Molly just turned ten. Andy will be fifteen before too long. He doesn't play with us anymore, and he never will. It's time to accept that. You might be safe because you were a favorite. But I'm from an old, unused lamp. I belong in a nursery, not in the room of a budding preteen. Molly already knows this, and it won't be long before she decides to let me go. And then I _must_ move on."_

"_But it isn't fair," Woody protested. "I'll save you, Bo. I promise I won't let them separate us."_

"_We're here as long as our owners need us, and then when it's time to leave, it's time," she said calmly. "I love you, Woody, but what I need from you is a promise that you won't put yourself in harm's way to help me. And," she said, raising a hand as Woody began to speak, "a promise that when I'm gone, you will let me go. The other toys need you, Woody. You're our leader."_

"_I haven't been a very good one lately," Woody mumbled._

"_There are some things that are beyond even your very capable hands, Sheriff," she said, smiling fondly and pecking her beau on the cheek. "You're doing the best you can. Not even Potato Head could argue that. Now, promise."_

"_Bo, I-"_

"_For me?"_

_He fell silent. Then he dragged his gaze up to meet hers. "I promise."_

"That must have been a difficult promise to make," Jessie said quietly.

"It was. And I've...I've broken it, haven't I?"

Jessie chose her words carefully. She'd never seen her friend so defeated before, and was suddenly glad she'd asked Buzz to help her out. Woody didn't think he was a good leader, but he was. He'd kept them all together, kept them sane...things could always be a lot worse.

"You haven't, Woody. Because the rest of us won't let you. It's all right to be sad. You were close to Bo. This isn't the same, but when I lost Emily..." she shook her head. Emily was not someone she spoke about often, and hardly ever to anyone but Woody. "Well, it was really hard to move on. In fact, I couldn't. Until you showed up. But you have friends. Plenty of friends, who are all here for you. Who rely on you."

He laughed without humor. "How can I be good for any of you anymore, when I've let so many bad things happen to our family? How can you possibly still trust me, after all the broken promises?"

Jessie couldn't believe she was hearing this from the usually-optimistic cowboy doll. _He_ was the one who was supposed to be comforting _her _as _she_ flipped out. A small spark of anger lit inside her, and she wondered if maybe it would help.

"I'm disappointed, Woody. I expected better from someone who always expects the rest of us to keep our heads up. Just when we need you the most, you throw in the towel. Figures." She stood and turned to walk away.

"Wait."

She turned to see Woody standing now, defiance in his eyes.

"For what? For you to fail us again? You're right, we'd all be better off without you."

"Wait just a minute." Woody's voice had turned angry, and his eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't even _be _here if it wasn't for me. You and Bullseye would be back in storage, maybe forever. Buzz wouldn't be here, either. He'd have become Scud-fodder or road-kill or rocket debris years ago. Wheezy would have left us years earlier. Things'd be different around here, and it wouldn't be for the better."

Jessie gave him an incredulous look. "Are you saying we _do _need you, Woody?"

He was so riled up he didn't recognize he had been trapped. "Yes, I am. You'd all be lost without me."

_You're absolutely right,_ she thought, beaming on the inside. With that, she stepped up to the edge of the ledge and looked down at the other toys calmly playing a board game. She nodded at Buzz. He saluted...and everything exploded.

"You cheated!" Hamm yelled.

"Did not!" Rex shouted back.

"Did too!" Slinky said, growling. "I saw it!"

"Why, of all the lousy things to do..." Mrs. Potato Head said angrily as her husband located his "angry eyes."

A second later, the Monopoly board became a battlefield, paper money flying into the air as the toys wrestled amongst themselves. Bullseye and the green aliens joined the fray, and squeaking and whinnying soon joined the angry shouts.

Woody's mouth dropped open as he joined Jessie and looked over the chaos.

"What the-"

"Woody, little help down here!" Buzz shouted from the sidelines.

Woody's face tightened resolutely and he leapt onto the desk and then to the ground, Jessie at his heels.

"Hey!" he shouted, waving his arms. No one paid any attention. "HEY!" Putting his fingers in his mouth, he blew a long, clear whistle.

Instantly, the fighting ceased.

"What in _tarnation_ is going on here?" Woody demanded, hands on his hips and a stern look on his face.

Nobody replied right away.

Then Rex spoke up hesitantly.

"He started it..."

"I don't care who started it, I just _finished _it! What could possess you all to act like that to each other; to your _friends?_ A tussle now and then is one thing, but an all-out war? That's something completely unacceptable. We stick together, so if you have an argument, you work it out peacefully or bring it to me. Understand?"

The toys nodded meekly. Woody nodded, satisfied. When he wasn't looking, Buzz gave the pile a thumbs-up and they all grinned back at him.

Woody turned to Jessie.

"You're back!" she said happily, throwing her arms around her best friend. He smiled and gently detached himself from her grip, grasping her hands.

"Thanks, Jess," he said sincerely. "Thanks for not giving up on me."

"I never will, cowboy. That's a _promise_."

Buzz approached them. Woody held out his hand, and the two shook, smiling.

"And thank _you_, Buzz. For showing me that I'm still needed. And wanted."

"You are a necessary component of our system, Woody," his friend responded. "Do you know how many games of checkers I've been forced to play with Slinky in the past seven days?"

Woody laughed and looked beyond to where the dog was setting up a fresh board. "You are relieved of your duties, ranger." He tipped his hat.

Buzz snapped to a mock salute. "Sir!" Then he relaxed and put an arm around Jessie as they watched Woody and Slink bicker goodnaturedly about who got to be red.

"He's back to normal," Jessie said in satisfaction.

"As much as possible, for now," Buzz agreed. "We're all much obliged to you, ma'am - it was your idea."

"And _everyone_ helped." She laced her fingers through the space ranger's. "So, what now? Back to Uno?"

He grinned at her. "Why don't we take a walk instead?"

**/**

Woody watched his friends retire to what was formerly his and Bo's corner and felt a small pang of pain before it was replaced by joy. He really did have the best friends imaginable.

"Aha! King me!" Slinky exclaimed triumphantly.

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Woody returned his attention to the board and to just how, exactly, he was getting beaten soundly by a _puppy_.


End file.
